OBJECTIVES: Our major research interest is to achieve a better understanding of congenital anomalies of the lungs and cardiovascular system. As pediatricians, we believe that basic knowledge of the normal development of the lung and its vascular attachments will be of help in the diagnosis, treatment, and perhaps prevention of some congenital conditions. METHODS: We will continue to use radioactive and cross-species graft implantations in the chick embryo to identify the pulmogenic areas and to record cell movements during organogenesis. We will dissect embryonic heart and lung preparations to analyze the results of looping. We will place nylon fibers markers in lung buds to record morphologic changes during development. We will study organ orientation and cell interactions by excising lung buds and in some cases reimplanting them in reverse orientation, and by grafting quail lungs into a chick host. We will study lung and cardiovascular development after alteration of blood supply to and from the heart and lungs by vascular compression, electrocoagulation, pulmonary embolization with droplets of mineral oil, and injection of petroleum oil into the hemithorax.